There is a critical need in many coating applications to form a coating of nano-sized material on the surface of another material. In one example, magnetic recording needs a coating of magnetic material where the grain size of the magnetic domains is on the order of nanometers in order to achieve higher density magnetic recording. In one example, catalysts require coatings of nano-sized grains in order to achieve the higher surface area to increase chemical reaction rates and reduce costs of the catalytic material. In one example, optical coatings of nano-sized grains will be optically transparent because light in the visible range will scatter very weakly from these grains. These optical coatings can be used to improve the scratch resistance and erosion resistance of the optical surface as well as other parameters, yet maintain optical transparency. In one example, cathodes using carbon nanotube (CNT) emitters require a coating of carbon-nanotubes that have diameters of a few nanometers. The CNTs should be firmly bonded to the substrate to prevent them from dislodging and creating electrical shorts or other problems in a device such as a display that uses the CNTs as electron sources. Printing pastes that contain CNTs are solutions to this need but require more CNT than is necessary, much of the CNT material in the paste composite is buried in the paste and is not available at the emission surface. Often these paste composites require post-deposition processes to activate the material for field emission. Eliminating the need for this process would be an advantage.
Since the need for these coatings spans over a large set of materials and applications, there is a need for making these coatings using a technique that is compatible with many different materials.